Thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarem as well as the Gaza Strip were banned from travelling to Ramallah to attend late leader Yasser Arafat's burial ritual later in the day.

"Israel said in the media that it is easing the arrival of Palestinians to Ramallah, but what Israel is doing on the ground is completely different," said Ibrahim, one of the residents in Bethlehem.

The coffin of Arafat would be flown by a special airplane from Al-Mazza military airport in Cairo back to Ramallah on Friday afternoon.